Under many circumstances, it is desirable for a business forms manufacturer to provide forms that can be imprinted with variable information by the customer of the manufacturer. Customers often have non-impact printers, such as cold fuse printers, laser printers, LED printers, or the like, and thus it is desirable to design the form so that the variable information may be readily applied with such non-impact printers (although this information obviously can also additionally be applied with an impact printer). This general experience is particularly appropriate for the situation in which the form is to be used as a packing list/invoice which is designed to be applied to the outside of the package.
According to the present invention, a business form, a method of producing a business form, and a package in combination with a packing list and invoice, are provided which facilitate the placement of variable information on a business form by the customer. This is accomplished by attaching bond stock to label stock in an overlapping edge portion thereof. Adhesive is applied at particular portions of the bond and label stock so as to allow the form to be Z-folded or accordion folded into a packing list/invoice configuration, and tractor holes are provided at edges thereof to facilitate passage through printers.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a business form suitable for use as a packing list or invoice attached to a package is provided. The business form comprises: a label stock portion having first and second side edges and first and second major faces, a bond paper portion having first and second side edges and first and second major faces, the second edge of said label stock portion being overlapped with the second edge of the bond paper portion and fixed together at the overlapped portion, means defining tractor holes adjacent said label stock portion first edge and adjacent said bond stock portion first edge, for facilitating feeding of said form through printers, and said second face of said label stock essentially completely covered by adhesive.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a business form serves as a packing list for an invoice comprises the following elements: a label stock portion having first and second side edges and first and second major faces, a bond paper portion having first and second side edges and first and second major faces, the second edge of said label stock portion being overlapped with the second edge of the bond paper portion and fixed together at the overlapped portion, an adhesive strip applied to said first face of said label stock adjacent said first edge, said second face of said label stock essentially completely covered by adhesive, and an adhesive strip applied to said bond portion second face adjacent said first edge thereof.
According to the invention there also is provided a method of producing a business form. A method comprises the steps of (a) at a first location, forming a continuous business forms from label stock and bond paper overlapping the bond and label stock portions first and second ends, respectively, to provide a continuous form, (b) printing the second face of the bond portion of the form, (c) at a second location, remote from the first location, printing the first face of the bond portion and the label portion, including printing address information on a section of the bond portion, (d) Z-folding the bond portion over the label portion and attaching the portions together in a Z-folded position, and (e) removing the release liner from the label stock and affixing the first face of the label stock to a package, with the address information section of the bond stock visible from the exterior of the package. Step (c) is preferably practiced by non-impact printing variable information on the forms.
A packing list/invoice according to the invention is utilized in association with a package. This combination comprises a first section having a first face with adhesive thereon connecting said first section to said package, and a second face with invoice information thereon, a second section overlying said first section, a third section overlying said second section, said third section having address information on the face thereof opposite said package, said first, second and third sections having opposite generally aligned first and second edges, removable means for removably operatively connecting said first, second, and third sections together along the first edge thereof, and said first, second, and third sections also being operatively connected together at or adjacent the second edge thereof, opposite the first edge.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a simple and effective business form construction utilizable as a packing list and invoice and that it utilizable in such a manner as to allow variable information to be applied by the manufacturer's customer including using a non-impact printer. This and another objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.